Thief! Thief!

Last night the intro class had its last session. I presented the Ordinary Mind koan with Nanchuan delivering the knock out punch: “Who would insist on affirming or denying it.”

I pointed to how this practice of neither affirming nor denying holds up the practitioner, how this is the very point of practice. It occurred to me there and then that there are several meanings for the phrase – “holds up the practitioner.”

Great Faith Way:
Katagiri Roshi often said, “The dharma holds you up – from the back.” I believe this is based on the etymology of the character for dharma (Japanese “ho”). We might not be able to see it and often don’t “know” it but there it is – the fundamental has our back.

Great Doubt Way:
Zen teaching, neither affirming or denying it, brings our habitual consciousness to a full stop. The issues poised by dharma, especially the Great Matter of life and death, cannot be resolved by habitual consciousness. How can the Great Matter of life and death be resolved?

Great Practice Way:
The dharma is a thief with a gun to a our back. Give it all up!